![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_RMR_RRN_201025_Ashley_01.jpg\")
Ashley Sneddon, 32, is newly-qualified with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde this year.(Image: ugc)<\/p>\nRutherglen’s Ashley Sneddon contracted necrotising fasciitis and has now just started a job at the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit.Ashley Sneddon, 32, is newly-qualified with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde this year.(Image: ugc)<\/p>\n
A Rutherglen woman who feels she was given a second chance at life after contracting the \u201cflesh-eating bug\u201d necrotising fasciitis, has devoted her future to helping others by becoming a nurse.<\/p>\n
Ashley Sneddon, 32, is one of more than 500 newly-qualified nurses and midwives to have joined NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde this year.<\/p>\n
She has just started a job at the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit and is loving her new role \u2013 but she\u2019s aware her life could have been very different.<\/p>\n
Ashley, who is a single parent to a 10-year-old son, left school and went to college to study social care, but at the time the course wasn\u2019t for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt 18 I got a job at retail chain Iceland and worked there for 10 years, and while I enjoyed it, there was always a feeling I could do more with my life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1745935933_120_0_factbox.jpg\")
Download the Lanarkshire Live app today<\/p>\n
The Lanarkshire Live app is available to download now.<\/p>\n
Get all the news from your area \u2013 as well as features, entertainment, sport and the latest on Lanarkshire\u2019s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic \u2013 straight to your fingertips, 24\/7.<\/p>\n
The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories, and allows you to customise your page to the sections that matter most to you.<\/p>\n
Head to the App Store and never miss a beat in Lanarkshire – iOS <\/a>– Android<\/a><\/p>\n In March 2020, just before lockdown, Ashley fell ill. She was diagnosed with necrotising fasciitis and spent three weeks in hospital, much of that time in critical care.<\/p>\n \u201cThe NHS basically saved my life,\u201d she said, \u201cand it was that experience that made me want to change direction.<\/p>\n \u201cMy recovery was fairly fast, but I do feel I was given a second chance at life and my illness left me looking at what I wanted to do with my future.\u201d<\/p>\n Ashley decided helping others was the way she wanted to go so she went to college to complete an access course and then studied nursing at university.<\/p>\n The National Spinal Injuries Unit is a service based at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital that looks after people from all over Scotland who suffer spinal injury through trauma or illness, and during her university degree Ashley did a placement there.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest, I nearly missed the place when I first came here,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s such an unassuming building, and from the outside you\u2019d never know the incredible work they do.<\/p>\n \u201cI loved my time there, so I\u2019m delighted that I\u2019m back here working and beginning my career in this unit.<\/p>\n \u201cMy new colleagues are so lovely and supportive, and the opportunities to learn and improve my skills here are huge. After what\u2019s happened to me I\u2019m going to grab this chance with both hands!\u201d<\/p>\n Ashley is one of a number of newly-qualified nurses who joined the National Spinal Injuries Unit this year, and lead nurse Helena Richmond said: \u201cOn behalf of everyone at the unit, I would like to welcome Ashley, and all our newly qualified nurses.<\/p>\n \u201cNursing is a wonderful profession, and I\u2019ll look forward to working with them all and supporting them through this exciting early part of their careers.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom my short time with them so far, this year\u2019s intake seem a fantastic bunch. The learning opportunities here are immense and I have every confidence that they\u2019ll quickly become highly valued members of the Spinal Injuries team.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: Hamilton MP welcomes \u00a320m government funding for South Lanarkshire<\/a>READ MORE: Sandford parents ‘bitterly disappointed’ over school journey road safety review decision <\/a><\/p>\n After working in retail for so long, and then following her illness, Ashley said she is \u201cso proud\u201d to have succeeded in becoming a nurse.<\/p>\n She added: \u201cI\u2019d wanted to be a nurse, but I thought that after so many years out of education I wouldn\u2019t be able to manage it.<\/p>\n \u201cBut there\u2019s always a way \u2013 and if anyone else feels they want to achieve something great with their life, all I\u2019d say is, if you really want it and give it your all, everyone can achieve their dream.\u201d<\/p>\n To find out more about this year\u2019s newly-qualified nurses, go to the NHSGGC website at www.nhsggc.scot\/nhsggc-welcomes-more-than-500-newly-qualified-nurses-and-midwives\/<\/a><\/p>\n *Don’t miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n And did you know Lanarkshire Live<\/a> had its own app? Download yours for free here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_RMR_RRN_201025_Ashley_02.jpg\")
Ashley Sneddon, front, with L-R – Kerri Fraser, Shannon O\u2019Hagan, Natalie Foyer, Adriana Oksiejuk and Jenna Hambleton.(Image: ugc)<\/p>\n